My childcare experience began in 1994 when my baby brother was born. I was 12 years old and I took a local babysitting course. I worked as a babysitter for many families, and cared for my own foster siblings too. When my first son was born in 2004, I carried forward with many products I had become accustomed to. But 10 years later, in 2014, when my second son was born, many of these things weren’t around anymore! He and his new baby brother missed out. Here are 4 Baby Products that I wish were still around for my younger sons.

1. Playtex flat top Natural nipples

These are weirdly labelled as disposable even though my mom never used them as such. They wash up just fine after use, and were her bottle-nipple of choice with all her many foster babies.

When I needed my oldest to take an occassional bottle, he wouldn’t take any nipples but these. In 2004 they were still readily available. They are brown, and shaped more like a real nipple than any other I have seen. In 2014 I tried to get some for Little, but they had been discontinued. I even emailed Playtex! I did eventually find some unopened packs on Ebay, and so I snatched those up. I would love to see Playtex use current foodsafe silicone technology to recreate these today.

2. Fisher price Smart Street

I can still hear the sound of this toy in my head. “Welcome to Smart Street! Turn the dial!” And then again as my brother typed “J-O-E” for the thousandth time. The Fisher Price Smart Street electronic toy was the main credit for my broher learning his letters and numbers. It even had a little slot to put coins as it counted them into the bank.

Of course there are hundreds of similar electronic toys on the market today, but none of them have quite the same magic of this classic 90’s toy.

3. Snugabye Convert-a-foot Sleepers

In all fairness, these probably shouldn’t be on the list because they are actually still around! I just recently discovered that you can still order this amazing Canadian brand of sleeper online, right from their website.

The company has been around since the 1940’s and during a boom in the 80’s and 90’s, these sleepers were in every department store and every baby had some. They’re not as visible anymore it seems. Perhaps because department stores themselves are disappearing?

The convert-a-foot sleeper folds over at the toes to cover their feet or opens up as footless, to extend the wear time on your ever-growing baby/toddler. They’re really quite awesome! They’ve updated their look and are very cute.

4. Graco Swing with lift out seat

This was another one my favourite baby things that my mom had for my little brother- although seeing it now, it sure looks flimsy! It’s called a Graco Swyngomatic. My brother absolutely loved it, and it was so practical and functional. It didn’t even need batteries or a wall plug because you wound it up with a simple crank. And if baby fell asleep in the swing but you needed to go outside to hang some laundry, you’d just lift the seat out and away you go. Tada!

I was so bummed when all the baby swings I had to choose from when Big was born all had their seats fixed to the base. As a result, I hardly used it, and skipped buying a new one altogether with Little and Littlest. I’d love it if graco came up with a new sturdy and safe swing that had a lift out seat.

What baby products do you miss?

Share in the comments if you can think of any baby items that have gone away with the passing of the times.